Problem
John was an outgoing child and always a high achiever. He was a straight "A" student in school and he played several sports. He was well liked by everyone who knew him. It was no surprise the John received a full scholarship to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John had dreams of being a civil engineer. Unfortunately, when John turned 20 he began having auditory hallucinations (he began hearing voices). The voices told him that he needed to assassinate the president of the university to prevent an apocalypse. John tried to ignore the voices, but it was no use. The voices had invaded his thinking, so he decided to kill the university president. John bought a gun and attempted to break into the president's house. As he was breaking in, an alarm sounded and university police apprehended John a few minutes later. They recovered the gun. John kept yelling, "I have to kill him or the world will end!" John had never been charged or convicted of any crimes until now. You are the judge in John's case.
Task
i. What type of mental illness does John likely have? Is it treatable?
ii. Do you think someone with a diagnosis like John's is more dangerous than other offenders?
iii. Do you think John's case should be referred to the Mental Health Court?
iv. Do you think John should receive some type of criminal sanction? If so, what sanction would you impose?